Montreal Smoked Meat (Home-Style)
Spice-cured, smoked and steamed beef brisket piled high on rye with yellow mustard, adapted for a home kitchen.
About this montreal smoked meat (home-style)
Montreal smoked meat is a cured, spiced and smoked beef brisket brought to the city by Jewish immigrants from Romania and Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. Delis on Boulevard Saint-Laurent made it famous. Compared with New York pastrami, it uses less sugar in the cure and more black pepper and coriander in the rub, and it's usually served hand-sliced on rye with yellow mustard.
Real deli smoked meat takes over a week, and this home version follows the same steps: a multi-day brine cure, a peppery rub, slow smoking, and a final steam that makes it meltingly tender.
Order 'medium' at a Montreal deli and you get meat with some fat. Use the brisket point if you want that texture.
Ingredients
- 2 kg beef brisket, point or whole
- 4 L water
- ¾ cup kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp pink curing salt #1 (Prague powder)
- 3 tbsp pickling spice
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 3 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp coriander seed, cracked
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Light rye bread and yellow mustard, for serving
Equipment
- Large non-reactive container
- Smoker or oven
- Steamer or roasting pan with rack
- Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
Tip: tap Start Cooking for hands-free step mode with built-in timers.
- 1
Make the brine: heat 1 L of the water with salt, sugar, curing salt, pickling spice and garlic until dissolved. Add the remaining cold water and chill completely.
- 2
Submerge the brisket in the brine in a non-reactive container. Refrigerate 5–7 days, turning daily.
- 3
Rinse the brisket and soak it in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water once, to remove excess salt.
120 min timer - 4
Mix pepper, coriander, paprika and garlic powder. Pat the brisket dry and press the rub all over.
- 5
Smoke at 110°C (225°F) until the internal temperature reaches 74°C (165°F), about 5–6 hours. No smoker? Roast on a rack at 120°C (250°F) for the same time.
360 min timer - 6
Steam the brisket (on a rack over simmering water, covered) for 2–3 hours, until probe-tender at about 93°C (200°F).
180 min timer - 7
Slice thinly across the grain while hot. Pile on rye with yellow mustard and serve with a dill pickle.
Notes
- Curing salt #1 is required for food safety in a multi-day wet cure and gives the pink colour. Measure it exactly.
Storage
Refrigerate whole up to 1 week; re-steam slices to serve.
Freezer
Freeze cooked brisket in large pieces up to 3 months.
Nutrition not calculated. Cook temperatures follow Health Canada guidance where cited.
Montreal Smoked Meat (Home-Style): common questions
What's the difference between Montreal smoked meat and pastrami?
Montreal smoked meat uses less sugar in the cure, more cracked pepper and coriander in the rub, and is usually made from whole brisket. Pastrami is often made from the navel cut and is sweeter.
Can I make smoked meat without a smoker?
Yes. Roast it low at 120°C (250°F) and add ½ tsp liquid smoke to the brine for a smoky note, then steam as directed.
Do I need curing salt?
Yes, for a safe multi-day wet cure. Curing salt #1 is sold at butcher supply shops and many grocery stores.
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